LanternFest lights the way for local nonprofits in South Berwick

Saturday

Aug 27, 2011 at 3:15 AM

By DANIELLE CURTIS dcurtis@fosters.com

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine— As hundreds of local residents and other visitors walked across the grounds of Spring Hill Restaurant carrying lanterns Friday night, one lantern in particular stood out among the crowd—a large white heron, lit by strings of white lights.

The heron, built of recycled materials, was created by local couple Anne Milne and Kevin Carlson for the first ever LanternFest, a community event organized by the nonprofit organization Sobo Central.

Sobo Central, created two years ago, is an umbrella organization that includes six other nonprofits, including Keep South Berwick Warm, the South Berwick Community Food Pantry, Hot Summer Nights concerts, GreenUp! South Berwick, Friends of Powderhouse Hill and SmartGrowth South Berwick.

According to its website, the organization's mission is to nurture the town's unique sense of place by connecting and engaging citizens in community life and by fostering the long-term balance of the town's cultural, economic and social well-being as well as its built and natural environment.

Sobo Central's president, Nicole St. Pierre, said the idea for LanternFest came from a similar event that one of the organization's members attended in Massachusetts.

The event featured a barbecue for attendees, a concert by PB and J- a local soft rock band- and face painting for kids. While many attendees made and brought their own lanterns to the event, lanterns made by Sobo Central volunteers and local students were on sale for those who did not.

After the concert and barbecue, attendees marched in a lantern parade, carrying their lanterns toward Knight's Pond, where about 200 memory lanterns, created in memory of various individuals, were launched on the water while over 50 others were launched into the air.

Milne and Carlson's large heron lantern was just one of the many lanterns in the parade.

Milne said she and Carlson decided to make sure a large lantern to celebrate their town. The heron, Milne said, is a reference to a story written by Sarah Orne Jewett, an author from South Berwick.

"We just wanted to celebrate our community, so we chose the white heron because of the local connection," Milne said.

The large bird was made out of many different recycled materials, including old fishing rods for the wings, swimming noodles for the neck, and feathers made out of white grocery bags.

Milne said she thought LanternFest was a great idea for a community event.

"It's just a relaxing time for everyone to get together before summer ends," Milne said.

St. Pierre said she wanted to create a community event that would be fun for all ages and that would become a tradition in the community.

"Our hope is that over the winter people will be inspired and we'll have lantern making parties," St. Pierre said. "We're starting small this year, with a limited budget."

While St. Pierre said the organization was starting small this year, there were over 700 people in attendance at Friday night's event, something that St. Pierre said she did not expect.

"We had no idea, we're surprised," St. Pierre said of the crowds. "We were expecting a couple hundred of our followers and friends, so we're really glad to see a variety of people here."

Beth Bennett, of South Berwick, and Kris Bennett, of Dover, were just two of these attendees, who said they thought the event was a success.

"It's great for families and younger people," Beth Bennett said, adding that it's also a good way to bring the town closer together, something that she said has been happening over time since she moved to the area from Ohio nearly 40 years ago.

Beth Bennett also said she thought the event was a good fit for the community, which she described as very artistic.

After attendees launched their lanterns Friday night, an After Glow party was available at the Spring Hill Restaurant.

For more information on Sobo Central and upcoming events, visit www.sobocentral.org.

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